Chapter 24

Civilian Conservation Corps

(CCC) part of FDR's first hundred days, was designed to give work to unemployed and unmarried young men between the ages of 18 and 25 to keep them off the streets and out of crime, later it opened up segregated camps for women and African Americans. Restoration and conservation work out of the cities, jobs in forests, parks, and recreational areas and on soil, conservation projects, roads, bridges, given $30 a month but required them to send $25 home to their families

National Labor Relations Act

(FDR) A 1935 law, also known as the Wagner Act, that guarantees workers the right of collective bargaining sets down rules to protect unions and organizers, and created the National Labor Relations Board to regulate labor-managment relations. Made sure workers were treated and payed well and not getting abused by their business. This law created the National Labor Relations Board to enforce the law and supervise shop elections

Federal Emergency Relief Administration

(FERA) was the name given by the Roosevelt Administration to a program similar to unemployment-relief efforts of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) set up by Herbert Hoover and the U.S. Congress in 1932. It was established as a result of the Federal Emergency Relief Act of 1933. The Federal Emergency Relief Act was the first direct-relief operation under the New Deal, and was headed by Harry L. Hopkins. Was an extension of Hoover's RFC but increased loan amt.

Tennessee Valley Authority

(TVA), federal corporation, created by the Congress of the United States in 1933 to operate Wilson Dam and to develop the Tennessee River and its tributaries in the interest of navigation, flood control, and the production and distribution of electricity -- enactments include reforestation, industrial and community development, test-demonstration farming, the development of fertilizer, and the establishment of recreational facilities -- includes a number of dams for electricity and flood control.

Timeline

1929-stock market crash 1930-democrats regain control House of Reps 1932-RFC established -Bonus Army -FDR elected 1933-hundred days -21st amendment 1934- Indian Reorganization Act 1935-second hundred days -CIO -Dust bowl -boulder dam complete 1936-FDR reelected -sit-down strikes 1937- Court packing -Roosevelt recession 1938- CIO withdraw from AFL -fair labor standards act

Taylor Grazing Act

A United States federal law that regulates grazing on federal public land. The Secretary of the Interior has the authority to handle all of the regulations, and he became responsible for establishing grazing districts. Before these districts are created there must be a hearing held by the state. Attempted to alleviate troubles caused by the dust bowl. In addition the government also bought 8 million heads of cattle and consisted of the largest portion of cattle farmers in the United States at the time.

Bull Market

A financial market of a group of securities in which prices are rising or are expected to rise. The term "bull market" is most often used to refer to the stock market, but can be applied to anything that is traded, such as bonds, currencies and commodities. Significant to this decade b/c of the upcoming stock market crash leading into the Great Depression.

Dust Bowl

After the drought of 1933, furious winds whipped up dust into the air, turning parts of Missouri, Texas, Kansas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma into the Dust Bowl and forcing many farmers to migrate west to California and inspired Steinbeck's classic The Grapes of Wrath. The dust was very hazardous to the health and to living, creating further misery.

Documentary Impulse

Enormous number of artists, novelists, journalists and photographers tried to document the devastation of the 1930's depression. Most direct and influential of the documentary style was the photograph. Roy Stryker gathered a remarkable group of photographers to document the work of the Resettlement Administration. Double vision, combining a frank portrayal of pain and suffering with faith in the possibility of overcoming disaster was found in many other cultural works in the period. John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath. Margaret Michells 1936 bestseller gone with the wind. James Rorty, where life is better

Brains Trust

FDR's group of political advisers who helped him step from governor of NY to the Presidency. His mentors consisted of Raymond Moley (Columbia Law School prof/progressive), economists such as Tugwell and Berele, and attorneys like Rosenman, O'Connor and Frankfurter. The brain trust believed that economic experts would be able to repair the economy, and that government and businesses should work together to create a new, stronger and more industrialized America. They helped shape FDR's reform policy to allow mass production to grow, and not to force an equalization of wealth.

National Union for Social Justice

Father Charles Edward Coughlin (October 25, 1891 - October 27, 1979) was a controversial Roman Catholic priest at Royal Oak, Michigan's National Shrine of the Little Flower church. He was one of the first political leaders to use radio to reach a mass audience. Early in his career Coughlin was a vocal supporter of Franklin D. Roosevelt and his early New Deal proposals, before later becoming a harsh critic of Roosevelt as too friendly to bankers. In 1934 he announced a new political organization called the National Union for Social Justice. He wrote a platform calling for monetary reforms, the nationalization of major industries and railroads, and protection of the rights of labor. The membership ran into the millions, resembling the Populist movement of the 1890's. After going against Roosevelt he began to prosecute other ethnicity and religions idealizing fascism and Nazism.

Committee for Industrial Organization

Formed by John L. Lewis and Sidney Hillman, at the 1935 AFL convention, this organization was meant to organize mass-production workers by industry rather than by craft. The Committee called for the inclusion of all workers regardless of their skill, gender, or race. In 1938, it finally pulled away from the AFL and reorganized itself as the Congress of Industrial Organization.

American Communist Party

Harsh and unrelenting critic of American capitalism and the government that ran it. Close with Soviet Union Soften attitude towards Roosevelt praise new deal and John Lewis. High membership mobilizes writers, artists and intellectuals social criticism. Close supervision by Soviet Union and took orders and followed party line strictly. American Communist Party abandon popular front and return to harsh criticism of American liberals. When Soviet Union told them to do this some obeyed and others gave up position. Leading role in CIO

Andrew Mellon

He was the Secretary of the Treasury during the 1920's and under Harding, Coolage, and Roosevelt. He had the theory that high taxes forced the rich to invest in tax-exempt securities rather than in factories that provided prosperous payrolls. He had followers in his theory called Mellonites. He helped engineer a series of tax reductions and reduced national debt by $10 billion. He was accused of indirectly encouraging the bull market and starting the descent into the stock market crash. Some people, however, believed he was the "greatest secretary of treasury since Hamilton." He used "trickle-down" economics.

Grand Coulee Dam

Is a gravity dam on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington built to produce hydroelectric power and provide irrigation. It is the largest electric power-producing facility in the United States[3] and one of the largest concrete structures in the world.[1]The proposal to build the dam was the focus of a bitter debate during the 1920's between two groups. One wanted to irrigate the ancient Grand Coulee with a gravity canal and the other supported a high dam and pumping scheme. Dam supporters won in 1933, but for fiscal reasons the initial design was for a "low dam" high which would generate electricity, but not support irrigation.the Third Power plant was constructed. The decision to construct the additional facility was influenced by growing energy demand, regulated river flows stipulated in the Columbia River Treaty with Canada and competition with the Soviet Union.The reservoir is called Franklin Delano Roosevelt Lake, named after the United States President who presided over the authorization and completion of the dam. Largest achievement of NRA

emergency Banking Act

March of 1931; gave the president broad discretionary powers over all banking transactions and foreign exchange; authorized healthy banks to reopen only under licenses from Treasury Department and provided for greater federal authority in managing the affairs of failed banks; by mid-March half of the countries banks which were holding ninety percent of the countries deposits were open again.

Share Our Wealth Society

Movement that began during the Great Depression. Lead by Huey Long, a governor and later United States Senator from Louisiana. Principles stated that no person would be allowed to accumulate a personal net worth of more than 300 times the average family fortune, which would limit personal assets to between $5 million and $8 million. A graduated capital levy tax would be assessed on all persons with a net worth exceeding $1 million. Rise of communist ideologies in popularity --> response to the big businesses from 1920's and failure of stock market. Degraded Roosevelt for not initiating enough reforms.

Jazz

Music rooted in improvisation and characterized by syncopated rhythm, a steady beat, and distinctive tone colors and performance techniques. Jazz was developed in the United States predominantly by African American musicians and gained popularity in the early twentieth century during the depression. It provided an outlet for everyday citizens and was popularized through speakeasies and illegal bars or social gathering centers.

Social Security Act

Signed by FDR in 1935, The Act provided benefits to retirees and the unemployed, and a lump-sum benefit at death. Payments to current retirees are financed by a payroll tax on current workers' wages, half directly as a payroll tax and half paid by the employer. The act also gave money to states to provide assistance to aged individuals (Title I), for unemployment insurance (Title III), Aid to Families with Dependent Children (Title IV), Maternal and Child Welfare (Title V), public health services (Title VI), and the blind (Title X).

Election of 1936

The candidates included Franklin D. Roosevelt from the Democratic Party, Alfred M. Landon from the Republican party, and William Lemke from the Union Party. The principal issue was how to exploit the New Deal's popularity. In the end, FDR won in a landslide victory.

POUR

The relief efforts by congress and local communities were resisted by president Hoover. He claims he was primarily interested in preserving the capitalistic economy of America. He latter established the President's Emergency Committee for Unemployment which was succeed by the President's Organization for Unemployment Relief (POUR). POUR did little but encourage the relief funding by local communities. Walter S. Gifford was the president. This is significant b/c was the first relief policy enacted by Hoover.

Court Packing

This term refers to FDR's proposed 1937 judiciary reform bill. Wanted to appoint an additional Supreme Court justice for each justice over the age of seventy. He claimed the measure was out of concern for the workload of the older justices, but was an obvious attempt to dilute the power of the conservative justices who opposed his New Deal programs. The Senate voted against the proposal even though that house was dominated by Democrats.

Indian Reorganization Act

a U.S. federal legislation which secured certain rights to Native Americans, including Alaska Natives. These include a reversal of the Dawes Act's privatization of common holdings of American Indians and a return to local self-government on a tribal basis. The Act also restored to Native Americans the management of their assets (being mainly land) and included provisions intended to create a sound economic foundation for the inhabitants of Indian reservations. Initiated under Roosevelt by his appointed official Collier.

Soil Conservation Service

agency of the Department of Agriculture (led by Henry Wallace) which conducted research into controlling wind and water erosion, set up demonstration projects, and offered technical assistance, supplies, and equipment to farmers engaged in conservation work on farms and ranches. It was meant to prevent future dust bowl incidents but many of the practices were abandoned with the return of rainfall and the outbreak of WWII.

Reconstruction Finance Corporation

an independent agency of the United States government chartered during the administration of Herbert Hoover in 1932. It was modeled after the War Finance Corporation of World War I. The agency gave $2 billion in aid to state and local governments and made loans to banks, railroads, farm mortgage associations, and other businesses. The loans were nearly all repaid. It was continued by the New Deal and played a major role in handling the Great Depression in the United States and setting up the relief programs that were taken over by the New Deal in 1933. The most significant policy issued under Hoover. It saved numerous banks and businesses from bankruptcy but did not hasten recovery.

Federal Communications Commision

an independent federal agency that regulates interstate and international communication by radio, television, telephone, telegraph, cable and satellite. Favored commercial broadcasting and eventually permitted NBC and CBS to own 90% of the radio shares by 1937. Radio business expanded under the depression and eventually led to news radio broadcasts in the 1930's

National Reclamation Act

backed by Roosevelt in 1902, it provided federal funds for the construction of damns, reservoirs, and canals in the West—projects that would open new lands for cultivation and provide cheap electric power later on. Also established the regulation of the irrigation and the water supply. Was responsible for the construction of Boulder Dam. The successful Boulder Dam transformed the agency into a national force that began work on the Central Valley Project and Grand Coulee Dam

Election of 1932

the Republican nominee Herbert Hoover and the Democratic nominee Franklin D. Roosevelt. The Republican platform included higher tariffs, keeping the gold standard, and continuation of Hoover policies. The Democratic platform included the repeal of prohibition, a 25% cut in government spending, unemployment aid, and a "new deal" for America. Roosevelt won with 472 electoral votes and all but 6 states. His victory paved the way for his "New Deal' policies and optimism in the country "nothing to fear but fear itself (Inauguration speech)." This drastic result was perhaps a consequence of political conflict with the Bonus army. Hoover had lost a significant amt. of popularity due to the public incident which resulted in civilian casualties.

Roosevelt recession

the recession of 1937, known to the president's critics as this, was a result of the administrations decision to reduce spending, at least that is what many observers and the president himself thought. In April 1938 he asked Congress for an emergency appropriation of 5 billion dollars for public works and relief programs, and government funds began pouring into the economy again, and another tentative recover seemed under way.

Federal Theater Project

was a New Deal project to fund theatre and other live artistic performances in the United States during the Great Depression. It was one of five Federal One projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The FTP's primary goal was employment of out-of-work artists, writers, and directors, with the secondary aim of entertaining poor families and creating relevant art.

Eleanor Roosevelt

wife of president Franklin Roosevelt, became one of the most influential and revered leaders of her time and redefined the role of the presidential spouse, an activist and agitator who was ardently concerned with issues of human welfare and rights for women and blacks, she was the first woman to address a national political convention, to write a nationally syndicated column and to hold regular press conferences